Numerous types of electrical connectors have been used for many years to provide an attachable and detachable electrical connection between electrical devices. A common type of electrical connector is a Bayonet Neil-Concelman ("BNC") connector, which was developed many years ago. The BNC electrical connector is very common in the telecommunications industries for connecting cables having two conductors therein; i.e., coaxial cables, for various applications. There is a similar electrical connector, referred to as a Threaded Neil-Concelman ("TNC") connector, which is very similar to the BNC, with the main difference being that there are threads in the TNC instead of the bayonet feature. There is at least a third well-known connector with which this invention may be applied, and that is a 1.6/5.6 connector.
A typical BNC connector includes a male connector assembly and a female connector assembly which are designed and adapted to be engaged and disengaged with one another. These connectors are typically referred to as two conductor connectors: the first conductor being a center conductor which would electrically connect or mate with a female receptacle; and the second conductor being a center terminal which would electrically connect or mate with a corresponding sleeve, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,866, which is incorporated herein by reference. Oftentimes but not necessarily, the second conductor (which is typically the center terminal and sleeve), is a ground.
The sleeve of the female connector assembly surrounds the female receptacle and includes a pair of diametrically opposed engagement pins which extend radially outward from the sleeve. The male connector assembly includes a male BNC center terminal having a center conductor. The male connector assembly also includes a locking collar having a pair of slots that are adapted to engage the engagement pins on the sleeve of the female connector to lock the connectors together.
The female and male connectors can be connected and locked together by first engaging the male BNC center terminal with the sleeve and then rotating the locking collar to the locked position. This coupling action is a twist-lock feature of the BNC connector and allows a reliable electrical connection to be made without the danger of the connection later being accidentally or gradually lost.
As is known in the industry, in the TNC connector, the external threads on the male connector component mate with the internal threads in the female connector component, and replace the twist-lock feature of the BNC.
In the telecommunications industry there are many different applications for BNC connectors. A common application relative to this invention is the use of the BNC electrical connector as used in a digital cross-connect module. One example of such a module is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,087 dated Dec. 4, 1990, which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
There are different options for connections on the rearward side of a cross-connect module, and the option relevant to this invention is the use of BNC coaxial connectors to attach cross-connect modules and cross connect panels (to which cross connect jack assemblies are attached) to other equipment.
An electrical signal passing through a BNC electrical connector on the rearward side of a cross-connect module will typically need to be transformed by passing through a transformer. In order to transform the electrical signal and utilize BNC electrical connectors, a transformer is typically mounted on a printed circuit board and is between the BNC connector and the switch assemblies in the cross-connect module. The circuit board will typically include multiple transformers, one for each of the multiple BNC connectors, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A & 4B.
The process of individually mounting each transformer and each BNC connector to the printed circuit board separately is more laborious, time consuming and expensive than is necessary.
This invention substantially reduces the assembly time and reliability by providing a BNC connector which includes a transformer mounted to or within the BNC connector housing. The combined assembly can then be mounted on a circuit board with one set of contacts being electrically connected to the circuit board, improving reliability and saving time and money.